1

On That Day We Will Be Free: Reflecting Womens Real Experiences in The

Handmaids Tale and The Female Man

Abstract
This paper analyzes how feminist speculative fiction mirrors the real world,
focusing on two novels as case studies, The Female Man by Joanna Russ and
The Handmaids Tale by Margaret Atwood. To prove that these older novels
still reflect womens experiences in the present day, my research looks at
themes and events in each novel that reveal aspects of todays world using
support from Rita Felski, Ursula LeGuin, Marina MacKay, Merja Makinen,
Debra Shaw, and others. I primarily consider the depictions and conditions of
women in the novels to see how these fictional worlds illuminate the
heterosexist norms present in our world. Specific and clear parallels can be
drawn between reality and these fictional stories, showing that the novels
critique and comment on our world by distancing themselves through the
genre of speculative fiction. In addition to identifying and analyzing the
realist truths in the novels, I consider the authors feminist accomplishments
in writing these novels, concluding that they raise awareness about these
patriarchal issues as well as spur action to start changing our society.
Keywords: feminism, realism, speculative fiction, science fiction,
Margaret Atwood, Joanna Russ, dystopia

Science fiction turns out to be the realism of our time.

Kim Stanley Robinson
Introduction
The best way to read fictional texts, Debra Benita Shaw says, is to see
the very real conditions for which they are metaphors (179). Realism, even
if only present in small portions, gives fiction its importance and allows it to
change how readers view the world (MacKay 14). Scholars have
comprehensively examined how one genre of fiction, speculative fiction (SF),
can reflect reality and the truths of our world. Although SF research already
analyzes the realism in novels at the time of their publication, current
scholarship lacks an identification of the continued parallels as the novel
ages, especially when looking at the conditions of women in our world today
and the conditions of women in older SF worlds. To fill this gap in research, I
will analyze two SF novels through a feminist lens to investigate and
understand the still-relevant critical commentary about womens current and
real experiences. These outdated worlds still reflect the reality of womens
lives today by showing the negative effects of gender roles and gender
inequality.

SF provides feminist writers a way to discuss and analyze the

framework surrounding a womans life by applying general themes and
experiences faced by all women to a fictional world. As an umbrella term, SF
includes a variety of other well-known subgenres like fantasy, science fiction,
and magical realism. On a very basic level, SF speculates upon topics and
causes the reader to speculate in response, but researchers widely debate
the definition of SF (Canavan and Ward 238). SF describes other worlds,
making it unrealistic by definition, but many believe that SF actually
speculates upon reality because its new worlds reimagine our world while
retaining fundamental human values and problems. In her novel The Left
Hand of Darkness, Ursula LeGuin echoes Shaw when she explains that all
fiction is metaphor. Science fiction is metaphor (xviii). SF texts use
elaborate, fantastical stories to tell truths that writers cannot say clearly and
accurately without metaphor.
Even though these stories differ from the reality around us, they allow
the reader to step back from, and thus offer a critical perspective on, her
present (Shaw 2). This critical perspective can have a social or political
purpose that the incorporation of feminism strengthens and clarifies (2).
Merja Makinen attributes SFs revolutionary potential to its structural
premise to question things-as-they-are, which makes it the perfect vehicle
for feminists to show the inequalities women face (139). Women choose to
write SF tales because SF offers freedom and a language [that] enables the
expression of radical and feminist ideas (145). Through SF, writers question

the norms of patriarchal society and provide critical commentary on the ways
that women have to live. Feminist truths need the distance that fantastical
metaphors and stories provide to present themselves to the reader. Readers
must ask themselves what they can learn from reading feminist SF novels in
relation to our world, its truths, and its possibilities.
Case Studies
To show how feminist SF reflects on our world, I will look at two
different texts as case studies. Although thirty to forty years separate the
publication of these novels and the present day, their examinations of
societal structures and norms surrounding gender still reflect our modern
day. By speculating on the here and now, imagining future consequences,
and projecting seemingly unconnected future realities that could logically
follow if our world continues on its path (Cranny-Francis 68), these texts
present a commentary and critique on the patriarchal structures of our world
and the inequalities they cause.
Joanna Russs The Female Man
The Female Man, as Merja Makinen explains, derives from Joanna
Russs desire to engage the reader in a consideration of patriarchy and the
damage it does on women more than a desire to just tell a story (155). Russ
pairs many passages and events with textual aggression towards
patriarchy as a way to further the storyline, and uses caricature and
invective to delineate the normal mid-Western relationships between men
and women in the 1970s, which readers can still easily recognize in todays

society (154). Although it seems outdated, Russs novel still holds relevance
for female readers because societys rules for women have not changed as
much as readers might expect.
The novel follows four women: Jeannine and Joanna, who live in various
versions of 1975; Janet, who lives in a world without men; and Jael, who lives
in a world where the split between genders led to warfare and became
geographical. Their lives converge and overlap, leading to interactions that
highlight gender inequality. Each character embodies different aspects of
womens lives and can draw the readers attention to Russs critiques.
Jeannine essentially symbolizes the ideal woman in the eyes of the
patriarchy. She focuses on finding a man, settling down with him, starting a
family, and living as a dutiful wife. Jeannine becomes depressed from a lack
of ability to fulfill this typical female role; instead, she pines away for men.
Through Jeannines character, readers can see the epitome of patriarchal
expectations for women and their effects on women. When Jeannine visits
her family, the narrator tells her, You dont want to be a dried-up old
spinster at forty but thats what you will be if you go on like this. Youre
twenty-nine. Youre getting old. You ought to marry someone who can take
care of you, JeannineIts all right to do that; youre a girl (Russ 114).
Jeannine should marry and rely on her husband because a girl needs a
man to take care of her. Alternately, Jeannines brother is a firm, steady
man who makes a good living for his wife and children, and his wife wants
nothing more in the world than her husband and her little boy and girl

(113). This couple demonstrates exactly what gender roles entail and how
Jeannines future should look, which readers will recognize as societys
ideal fate for women today. The narrator uses these descriptions to scold
Jeannine, who laments her failure to fulfill her role in society. She spends
much of her time lying around and complaining about her lonely fate.
Jeannines behavior also reflects how a woman should act: She
pauses, catching sight of herself in the wall mirror: flushed, eyes sparkling,
her hair swept back as if by some tumultuous storm, her whole face glowing.
The lines of her figure are perfect, but who is to use all this loveliness, who is
to recognize it? (109). Jeannine tries to achieve the ideal feminine beauty
and look the way men want her to look. With a goal of attracting a man, she
centers everything in her life on men and eventual marriage. Joanna,
previously ensnared in the same patriarchal trap as Jeannine, recalls: I spent
my whole day combing my hair and putting on make-up...all I did was dress
for The Man, smile for The Man, talk wittily to The Man, sympathize with The
Man, flatter The Man, understand The Man, defer to The Man, entertain The
Man, keep The Man, live for The Man (29). Jeannine, for the majority of the
novel, spends her time doing exactly these things.
When with her boyfriend, Jeannine feels unable to discuss her
problems because hell say shes nattering again; worse still, it would sound
pretty silly; you cant expect a man to listen to everything (as everybodys
Mother said) (108). She degrades her own voice and elevates a mans
attention above the topics and ideas she wishes to share, and attributes this

knowledge to her own mother, showing that women learn about the
superiority of men from childhood. Another character, Laura, also discusses
the construction of gender roles and gender superiority from childhood,
venting her frustration about society denying her goals and dreams because
they were not feminine enough. She sarcastically explains: Everyone knows
that much as women want to be scientists and engineers, they want
foremost to be womanly companions to men (what?) and caretakers of
childhood (60). The desire to embrace feminine roles supposedly lies at the
very core of each woman. As her therapist says, Men make the decisions
and women make the dinners (67), delegating each person to their specific,
inherent gender role. No woman can deviate without punishment; yet still,
Laura and Jeannine want to be more than just woman. Gendered job roles
are shifting today, but women still face discrimination in traditionally maledominated fields while remaining primary caretakers of children. Readers will
recognize societys forceful push toward feminine roles for Laura and
Jeannine.
Joanna works to remedy this by trying to achieve the transcendence of
woman, becoming what she calls the female man. She aims to do exactly
what society taught Laura not to do: inherit male roles and achieve the
successes that only men can achieve. Makinen notes that Joannas choice of
identifying as a female man allows her to assum[e] the nominal title of
man [and]inhabit all the positive binary constructions within the culture
(155). In her description of her transformation, Joanna explains that she

became a man by first learning what it means to live completely as a female.

She explains the mans idea of female: You really are sweet and responsive
after all. Youve kept your femininity. Youre not one of those hysterical
feminist bitches who wants to be a man and have a penis. Youre a woman
(Russ 94), placing female completely opposite to male. To merge the two,
Joanna then embraces traditionally non-female roles to become a female
man and inhabit the world of men as a woman.
Existing as a woman in the workplace meant that Joanna had been
neuter, not a woman at all but One Of The Boys, yet still objectified by her
body. If you get good at being One Of The Boys [the objectification] goes
awayI suppose they decided that my tits were not of the best kind, or not
real, or that they were someone elses, so they split me from the neck up
(133). Joanna found it impossible to exist as a woman in a professional
space; either she did not fit, or had to dissociate parts of herself for men to
accept her. Makinen agrees, saying that women are trying to ignore their
sex in order to be treated equally, butthey are turned into a negative
construction of femininity by male denigration (155). Once women fit in the
workplace, they lose their femininity, which the patriarchy views as
undesirable. After Joanna reworked herself to remain female yet occupy male
roles, she viewed men and the world differently: For years I have been
saying Let me in, Love me, Approve me, Define me, Regulate me, Validate
me, Support me. Now I say Move over (Russ 140). Instead of tailoring her
needs and decisions around the opinions of men, she creates her own space

10

achieve success by her own definitions. Using the label female man puts
her in a unique place neither traditionally male nor female and allows her to
move among the ranks of men.
While Joanna can do this and achieve success, the gender binary does
not allow two-way movement. Jeannine describes her boyfriend as such a
baby and finds it pathetic that when he does it [sex], you know, sometimes
he cries. I never heard of a man doing that (83). When he crosses the
gender line by crying, Jeannine feels disgust and concern. If he does not
behave like a man, then there must be something wrong with him. She even
notes that sometimes he likes to get dressed upIs that what they call
transvestism? (83). Society then and now decrees that men should not
behave like or want to look like a woman; a man trying to move across the
gender binary is unacceptable. This double standard of gender fluidity paints
women as weak and pathetic, and when a supposedly strong man
demonstrates those qualities, society ridicules him. A woman like Joanna
moving into a more man-like state can at least find success in the sense that
she can still function in the workplace and achieve recognition, while
Jeannines boyfriend would never receive respect for his womanly behavior.
Jael, Russs fourth major character, exists among men and sometimes
acts as a man, but in an entirely different way than Joanna. In her world, men
and women occupy separate sides of the planet, the culmination of unequal
gender roles and expectations turned into warfare. The Manlanders and
Womanlanders, as they call themselves, hardly see each other due to their

11

separation. The Manlanders, without women, cannot have children. Instead,

they buy infants from the Womanlanders and bring them up in batches,
save for the rich few who can order children made from their very own
semen (167). All of the purchased infants are male, and if they grow up
deciding that they do not want to be a man, they can become changed by
body modifications or half-changed if they decide too late in life for
modifications. These changed and half-changed function as women in
the society, used for sex and domestic activities. The narrator notes
sarcastically that the half-changed are weak and cant protect themselves;
what do you think femininity is all about? (172), reminding the reader and
the characters that the patriarchy places women and non-men in very
specific roles and that being like a woman is undesirable. Without women
around them, the Manlanders degrade women even further.
Jael, an assassin, targets high-rank Manlanders, and specializes in
portraying men and occupying their roles as a spy or infiltrator. She holds a
high status within the Womanlanders and can move freely among enemy
troops and higher-ups, none of whom know that she usually walks among
them as an assassin. Jael describes her situation: I come and go as I please.
I do only what I want. I have wrestled myself through to an independence of
mind In short, I am a grown woman (187). Her freedom equals the
freedom that men possess in our world; a grown woman here, in 1975 and in
2015, would rarely describe herself in such a manner. Jael inhabits a

12

traditionally male role, showing the gap between what women and what men
can achieve.
Jael also revels in her ability to destroy men and maintain her power
over them, almost reversing patriarchal standards by placing herself as the
oppressor in her extreme hatred of men. After one of the other characters
questions the necessity of killing a male leader in a violent manner, she says,
I dont give a damn whether it was necessary or notI liked it (184), and
as a narrator explains that theres no doing business with [men]; you have
to kill them anyway, might as well have fun (182). Her attitude toward the
life of Manlanders exaggeratedly mirrors the disdain and disrespect men
have for women. Russ presents this as a poor alternative to the patriarchy
it is still dangerous and unequal, and Jaels all-consuming rage and
justifications for her actions are neither healthy nor productive. Instead, her
situation proves the need for equality rather than a reversal of the patriarchy
that would place women at the top. Makinen addresses the reversal in her
analysis: The narrative [of Jael's role reversal of the male world leader],
aided by [Jeannine, Janet, and Joannas] horror, problematizes the issues of
role reversal as an effective feminist strategy, whilst bitterly explaining the
attraction of such a course (153).
While the other worlds place men and women at odds to show gender
inequality, Janets world, Whileaway, has no men at all. With advanced
technology, women do not need men to reproduce, and their society
continues to move smoothly: there have been no men on Whileaway for at

13

least eight centuries I dont mean no human beings, of course, but no men
(Russ 9). History says a disease killed all of the men on the planet, although
Jael argues that Janets people eliminated all men themselves, possibly as a
conclusion to the warfare in her own world. Janets world brings up an
entirely new view of patriarchy and other problems with gender and
sexuality. Janet can do all of the things that men traditionally do because no
men exist to occupy those roles or tell her that she cannot do them. Women
have choices and freedom, which brings the reader to realize that there are
not as many choices and freedoms in our world. Janet can be both masculine
and feminine and both are expected and acceptable; in our world, society
still divides gender roles and crossing that boundary brings ridicule.
On Whileaway, even without men, love still exists. Women love women
and form relationships and families. This brings up the question of lesbianism
and its implications. When Janet meets with a reporter on the 1975 version of
our planet, he asks how women on Whileaway cope with the lack of sexual
love, even though he has no doubts that mothers of Whileaway love their
children (11). Confused, Janet asks, you say we dont have that?...How
foolish of you. Of course we do (11). In our heteronormative world, where
males and females should love each other, not the same sex, some find it
impossible and wrong to have women love women sexually. Laura, discussing
our worlds standards, says, Ive never slept with a girl. I couldnt. I wouldnt
want to. Thats abnormal and Im not, although you cant be normal unless
you do what you want and you cant be normal unless you love men (68).

14

Whileaway normalizes same-sex love and shows the reader how the
heteronormative, patriarchal state of our society, then and now, harms those
who do not fit because they love the same sex.
Upon her entry into our world in 1975, Janet adjusts to the rules and
regulations that women face. Interacting with men and assuming the role of
woman do not come naturally to her. Her voice and agency on her planet
do not belong to her here. When a man grabs her and she says, Let me go,
Joanna tells her to say it loud. Somebody will come rescue you. Janet
replies, Cant I rescue myself? Joanna says, No. Janet argues, Why not?
(45). On our planet in 1975, as a woman, Janet does not have the authority
and power to save herself. She must rely on another man to come save her,
unlike her planet, where she does what she wants and stands up for herself.
Our world strips away her freedoms, and by seeing her inability to fit into our
box of woman, the reader can identify with the limitations and see the
inequality that still affects women today. Nearly forty years after the
publication of The Female Man, Russs description of the female experience
still rings true with readers. Some things may have changed and improved,
but the fact that readers can recognize and apply Russs critiques shows that
feminism and her main points about gender inequality still matter.
Margaret Atwoods The Handmaids Tale
Written in 1985, The Handmaids Tale describes the life of a woman
named Offred who lives as a Handmaid, valued for her reproductive
capabilities in a world where pollution contaminated peoples bodies and

15

caused a shortage of healthy babies and mothers. Each Handmaid belongs to

a high-status man, a Commander, whose Wife cannot reproduce. She acts as
a sort of surrogate mother, and the Wife owns the child. This world, called
Gilead, is a projected future of our world; Offreds generation saw the switch
from the world as we know it to a world where people receive roles based on
their status and reproductive capabilities. Women have no freedom;
everyone performs a specific role to keep the country functioning, and every
deviance from the desired order of society results in punishment. Offreds
situation reflects and amplifies inequalities and problems that exist in our
current world.
In Gilead, a womans only value comes from her body and reproductive
capabilities. Men, and even other women, only view Offred as useful and
worthwhile because she can produce a healthy child for her Commander.
They do not see her personality and mind as the most important parts of her
existence. Offred explains that the Handmaids are containers, its only the
insides of our bodies that are important (Atwood 124). In Handmaid training,
punishments for deviance resulted in bodily harm to the hands and feet,
which their instructors, the Aunts, justify because for our purposes your feet
and hands are not essential (118). As long as they remain capable of
reproduction, society can use and abuse the Handmaids. Other aspects of
their existence do not matter.
Because society emphasizes bodies only, Offred constantly talks about
how she wants to be more than just a body; she wants to exist for herself.

16

Valuing her soul struggles against how society values the body her soul
inhabits. Todays world seems to put a slightly larger importance on the soul,
although society clearly still objectifies women and often sees them as
bodies instead of people. Gilead, however, does not focus at all on her soul;
the new world only wants her body, its capabilities, and its biological destiny.
Offred constantly talks about becoming empty and feeling empty: what we
prayed for was emptiness, so we would be worthy to be filled: with grace,
with love, with self-denial, semen and babies (251). In a literal way, their
bodies will become filled with a child, but they must eradicate their
personalities, values, goals, and dreams as well to make room for their
purpose as a Handmaid.
On the surface, Gilead appears very woman-centered because it places
so much value and importance on women. Wouldnt Gileads system improve
the status of women compared to our worlds patriarchal structure, since a
world without the Handmaids significantly reduces humanitys potential to
reproduce? Isnt feminism looking to increase the worth of women? Yet
Gileads idea of woman-centered means that everything revolves around
the worth of a womans body, not a womans potential as a person and as an
equal to men. Feminism wants to level the playing field and see men and
women as equals; Gilead does quite the opposite, placing men in positions of
power and giving them the sole decision-making capabilities while women
simply conceive, bear children, and eventually die. Each world, ours (in terms
of feminism) and Gilead, looks at the worth of women in completely different

17

ways. Gileads woman-centered structure collapses when the reader realizes

that only healthy and childbearing women matter. Gilead sends unimportant
women, unfit for birthing children or for belonging to prominent men as
trophy wives, into designated places called the Colonies, where they must do
hard manual labor, sometimes cleaning up dead bodies or radioactive spills,
with an increased chance of death. The Colonies function as the dumpster for
useless women. As a reward for bearing a healthy child, a Handmaid will
never be sent to the Colonies, shell never be declared Unwoman (163).
Gilead truly only values reproduction, not women, and provides a terrifying
future if our society continues to oppress women.
The Commanders further objectify and devalue the Handmaids when
they take them to an underground secret club called Jezebel. Here, the men
parade women around as trophies to prove their masculinity and power. One
of the women at Jezebel, not a Handmaid but a prostitute, explains that the
men like to see [the Handmaids] all painted up. Just another crummy power
trip (316). When Offred walks around in a promiscuous, ridiculous pin-up
outfit under the guiding hand of her Commander at Jezebel, she realizes that
he is showing me off, to them, and they understand that, they are decorous
enough, they keep their hands to themselves, but they review my breasts,
my legs, as if theres no reason why they shouldnt (307). Atwood
underscores the Commanders ownership of Offred through naming: her
Commanders name, Fred, led to her name Offred Of Fred while she
acts as his Handmaid. The other men at the club approve of each

18

Commander bringing his Handmaid to prove his manhood, his control of his
women, and his possession of his Handmaid. The men have no reasons to
avoid objectifying and evaluating women based on their bodies when
Gileads women already fit that role in their rigid society. Women readers will
recognize and understand Offreds unease at the mens prying eyes as we
experience it in our world as well.
Gilead teaches women that they deserve these injustices from men
around them. During Handmaid training, the Aunts and the Handmaids
themselves engage in victim-blaming, convincing victims of rape that they
deserved it and led on their rapist. At first, the victims defended their
innocence and said they did not deserve blame, but when one of the Aunts
asks the crowd, But whose fault was it? the other Handmaids-in-training
chant, Her fault, her fault, her fault (92). This might sound like an event far
removed from our reality, but victim blaming occurs very often in our own
society. Some individuals believe the victim asked for it due to her (or his)
clothing or behavior, even though no one wants to be sexually violated
against their will. This passage reminds readers that our reality shares traits
with the Handmaids world; cruelty and injustice toward women exist in both
Gilead and our world.
In addition to blaming women for rape, Gilead does not allow
Handmaids agency over their sexual activity. In their role as surrogate
mothers, they perform a Ceremony with the Commander and his Wife in
which the Commander has sex with the Handmaid, who lies on the Wife.

19

These strict, required positions mean that extra physical contact prompts
punishment. As Offred explains, It has nothing to do with passion or love or
romance or any of those other notions we used to titillate ourselves with. It
has nothing to do with sexual desire (122). Sex functions only as a ritual for
the Commander to impregnate the Handmaid. If the Handmaids try to make
their own sexual choices, law enforcement takes them away. Offred, in her
desperation to have some choices in her life and do things for herself instead
of for others, visits the Commanders chauffeur, Nick, for sex. She explains
herself: I went back to Nick. Time after time, on my own, without [the Wife]
knowing. It wasnt called for, there was no excuse. I did not do it for him, but
for myself entirely (344). She makes these choices in order to have control
and agency, but she also feels shame for behaving in this way. Gileads
women are not alone in feeling shame for sex; women in our society often
feel shameful for having sexual freedom, or others around them shame
them. In both Gilead and our world, people believe that a woman who has
sex for her own reasons, or even is raped, deserves shame as for acting
promiscuously. Men do not face this stigma; society encourages sexual
promiscuity to increase masculinity. These double standards, like those
advanced in The Female Man, enforce the inequality between the sexes.
Gilead adheres strictly to gender roles, as evident through the
existence of Handmaids as baby carriers. Women perform household duties
like cleaning and cooking, each Commander has a Wife, and the Commander
himself controls the house and contributes directly to society. Atwood

20

reestablishes the traditional roles of women as another facet of their

oppression in this society: homemakers, mothers, and trophies. Instead of
allowing them to act outside of their gender roles, enforcing these traditional
gender roles puts women more firmly in their boxes. They must play the part
of a true woman; no one can risk acting outside of their gender roles. This
rigidity constrains men too, and readers must remember that the oppression
of women affects men as well. The Commanders must act respectfully, follow
the rules, and run the household perfectly. Yet Fred breaks rules by changing
some scripted roles, engaging in extra emotional and sexual contact with his
Handmaid in the Ceremony, in an attempt to have control of his situation.
His decision to bring her to Jezebel shows more of his attempts to fight
against society. However, Jezebel just enforces the performance of gender
roles; although everyone feels like they gain agency by breaking rules and
flaunting their sexuality, they just move into different assigned roles. The
women who work there perform their role of prostitutes. The Commanders
perform their roles as powerful, masculine, in-control figures. The Handmaids
perform their roles as objects paraded around the club. Gileads tolerance of
Jezebel indicates the hidden problems with the freedom present in these
new roles. The societys emphasis on performance and roles continues to
separate genders and encourage the oppression of both men and women,
even when people try to break free.
Like the Commanders, the Handmaids try to fight Gileads oppression,
using language to challenge society. Gilead does not allow women to read or

21

write, and bans certain words and phrases while requiring others in scripted
situations. Language, in both Gilead and our world, controls thought and
shapes perceptions about the world. Makinen observes that feminist SF has
tried to challenge patriarchal language structures that exist in our world
(147), and Atwood follows suit to point out the power of language. Offred
spends a lot of time considering words and implications. When in her
bedroom, Offred explains that The night is mine, my own time, to do with as
I will, as long as I am quiet. As long as I dont move. As long as I lie still. The
difference between lie and lay. Lay is always passive.I lie, then, inside the
room (Atwood 49). Choosing the active verb gives her agency over her
actions instead of falling under societys control. She holds onto her
obsession with language because she controls it she can control her
knowledge, thoughts, meaning, and uses of language, even though Gilead
wields language as a weapon.
When she visits town, she sees that In front of us, to the right, is the
store where we order dresses. Some people call them habits, a good word for
them (Atwood 33). Habits reflects the structured nature of the society and
how the Handmaids function in habitual ways. When she remembers the
past, she says, They [the people before Gilead] wore blouses with buttons
down the front that suggested the possibilities of the word undone. These
women could be undone; or not. They seemed to be able to choose (33),
considering how clothing reflects choice and how women in Gilead can no
longer make choices. When she says goodbye to her shopping partner

22

Handmaid, the Handmaid replies, Under His Eye, which Offred

acknowledges as The right farewell (59). Their rigid conversations and
required phrases block any real communication between women and force
them to adhere to their roles. The Handmaids must respond with what Gilead
deems appropriate and correct. Control of the language controls the people.
As Rita Felski notes, language has constraining, legislative, and socializing
aspects (34), which lends credibility to Atwoods manipulation of language
and its effects on the inhabitants of Gilead. The Handmaids end up creating a
code within the closed system of language in Gilead to create a kind of
womens language (Makinen 143), using phrases like Mayday, already
acceptable to indicate the first day of spring, to signal distress. Handmaids
risk imprisonment or death if law enforcement catches them maneuvering
within the patriarchal and oppressive language structure, but they do it
anyway to have agency, freedom, and communication.
As a component of language, writing holds power too; Gilead bans
women from writing, and when Offred offers to spell a word for the
Commander by writing it, [H]e hesitates at this novel idea. Possibly he
doesnt remember I can (Atwood 240). Writing, as an indicator of power and
knowledge, no longer belongs to women, thus demoting them to a lower and
less respectable position. When she holds the pen, she says, The pen
between my fingers is sensuous, alive almost, I can feel its power, the power
of the words it contains (241). She realizes the power and control that the
pen gives her over language, communication, and meaning. Women cannot

23

read either; the entirety of literacy is not theirs to claim. The barriers on
spoken language, writing, and reading prohibit women from learning through
words at all. When Offred reads with the Commander, she says, I read
quickly, voraciously, almost skimming, trying to get as much into my head as
possible before the next long starvation (Atwood 239). The chance to read
comes so rarely that she has to take advantage of it.
The Commander also lets her play Scrabble with him, which Offred
enjoys because it gives her power over language. She uses Scrabble to retain
her hold over her language and demonstrate her proficiency in it even
though everything she says otherwise must follow strict, controlled
guidelines. As she plays, she says, I hold the glossy counters with their
smooth edges, finger the letters. The feeling is voluptuous. This is freedom,
an eyeblink of it. Limp, I spell. Gorge. What a luxury. The counters are like
candies, made of peppermint, cool like that. Humbugs, those were called. I
would like to put them into my mouth (180). Because she normally cannot
use and mold language as a Handmaid, she must savor the times she
regains some semblance of power and agency. Offreds attempts to gain
power and live for herself point to her lack of freedom in Gilead and the
parallels in our world. Readers can draw connections, see trajectories of our
society even as we move forward in time from the publication of this novel,
and understand Atwoods relevant critiques about patriarchy.

24

Conclusion
These two texts demonstrate how feminist SF continues to critique and
raise awareness about the conditions of women in our world. Even though
SF, on the surface, primarily concerns itself with worlds and situations far
removed from our present reality, it connects to and comments on our own
world and the conditions in which we live. SFs distance from our reality
actually highlights gender inequality by exaggerating seemingly normal
elements of womens lives to show their unfair and oppressive nature.
Through the experiences of the women in these older SF worlds, readers can
see the continued importance of feminism. These texts, although dated, still
resonate with readers who can recognize their own experiences in the stories
of these women and see how far we have or have not come in these few
decades. The messages of The Female Man and The Handmaids Tale are
even more crucial because they still reflect conditions of women today.
But feminist SF is more than just a commentary. As we might expect,
these texts have another purpose: to inspire real-world change (Barr 8).
Feminist SF writers are not writing into a vacuum; readers can take what
they learn from these texts and apply it to the real world, instigating change.
As Marina MacKay explains, these texts act upon us all and potentially
change the world in the act of describing it (14). By changing our
perspective of our world, feminist SF can change the way we act in our
world: when we feel right, we act rightly (14). Once readers understand
the underlying messages in feminist SF, they can work to change the world

25

around them and act rightly for the inhabitants of our planet. SF can inspire
social change simply because SF really does contain information about the
conditions around us and critique aspects that need improvement. With this
information, readers can start to speculate about and discuss, potentially
even fix, the persistent problems in the world around them. These feminist
SF texts can ultimately cause awareness, action, and change. As Russ says
while addressing her own novel, Do not complain when at last you become
quaint and old-fashionedDo not get glum when you are no longer
understood, little book. Do not curse your fateRejoice, little book! For on
that day, we will be free (214). When we can say that these depictions of
reality no longer talk about our reality, and that feminist writings do not
resonate deep within readers, we can celebrate the progress our society has
made and know that these inequalities in the lives of people around us are
dated and gone.

Works Cited
Atwood, Margaret. The Handmaids Tale. New York, Ballantine Books: 1986.
Print.
Barr, Marleen S. Lost in Space: Probing Feminist Science Fiction and Beyond.
Chapel Hill, The University of North Carolina Press: 1993. Print.
Canavan, Gerry, and Priscilla Ward. "Preface." American Literature 83.2
(2011): 237-249. Academic Search Premier. Web. 11 Oct. 2014.

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Cranny-Francis, Anne. Feminist Fiction: Feminist Uses of Generic Fiction. New

York, St. Martin's Press: 1990. Print.
Felski, Rita. Beyond Feminist Aesthetics. Cambridge, Harvard University
Press: 1989. Print.
Flood, Alison. Kim Stanley Robinson: Science Fiction's Realist. Guardian
Online, 11 Nov. 2009. Web 10 April 2015.
LeGuin, Ursula K. The Left Hand of Darkness. New York, The Berkley
Publishing Group: 1969. Print.
MacKay, Marina. The Cambridge Introduction to the Novel. New York,
Cambridge University Press: 2011. Print.
Makinen, Merja. Feminist Popular Fiction. New York, Palgrave: 2001. Print.
Russ, Joanna. The Female Man. Boston, Beacon Press: 1975. Print.
Shaw, Debra Benita. Women, Science and Fiction: The Frankenstein
Inheritance. New York, Palgrave: 2000. Print.